With UFC on FOX 4 just days away, brash Brit Michael “The Count” Bisping took an underhanded swipe at Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for turning down a fight with Zuffa newbie Glover Teixeira—he both commended and criticized his actions in equal measure. …
With UFC on FOX 4 just days away, brash Brit Michael “The Count” Bisping took an underhanded swipe at Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for turning down a fight with Zuffa newbie Glover Teixeira—he both commended and criticized his actions in equal measure. Via MMAMania.com, Bisping told FUEL TV’s UFC Tonight:
I have asked for higher fights a couple times. I can kind of understand why Shogun Rua feels the way he does being a former champion. And Glover Teixeira is an amazing fighter, but he is not a household name like Shogun. Glover has everything to win in this situation, but Shogun has to look at what the gains are for him. I am not saying I would choose my fights, but I sympathize with them. We are not in the habit of choosing our fights, the UFC makes the fights. I have never turned down an opponent.
Now are they or are they not the characteristics of a weasel (or is that Wiesel)? Bisping recently employed the term to make comparisons to Chris “The All-American” Weidman.
Rua is slated to throw hands with Brandon Vera in the main event of UFC on FOX 4, a fight that could determine whether he gets the opportunity to vie once again for the 205-pound crown.
With that in mind, had the 30-year-old Muay Thai specialist opted to take on Teixeira instead (Rua’s assumption was he had nothing to gain from that fight), it’s highly doubtful he’d been in this present and lucrative position.
In hindsight, it was a good judgement call by the Brazilian.
That said, Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader are also in the running for a shot at the winner of Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson, but as UFC president Dana White recently stated, only the most impressive victor of the aforementioned gets the right of first refusal.
Regarding Bisping, he’s in the hunt for a tilt at the 185-pound belt currently held by Anderson Silva.
Assuming he gets past Brian Stann at UFC 152, there’s every chance it might be in the offing.
UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera is scheduled to take place on August 4, 2012 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Suffering from Olympics fatigue syndrome? This Saturday, the UFC might have just the tonic.
UFC on Fox 4 (also known as UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera) goes down August 4 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It’s all on free TV, and it all kicks …
Suffering from Olympics fatigue syndrome? This Saturday, the UFC might have just the tonic.
UFC on Fox 4 (also known as UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera) goes down August 4 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It’s all on free TV, and it all kicks off at 5 p.m. Eastern on Fuel TV, then moves to the mothership at 8 p.m.
The co-main events pit light heavyweights Ryan Bader against Lyoto Machida and then Mauricio “Shogun” Rua against Brandon Vera in some kind of cluster-melee for the next shot at champion Jon Jones.
But there are more fights than that. In fact, six of the UFC’s eight weight classes are represented here. At the same time, though, don’t kid yourself: Every card has a few clunkers, and this one is no different. Don’t let yourself fall victim to the socioinformational mind-control machine.
But how, pray tell, does one do that? How does one see through the propoganda and, in so doing, separate the wheat from the chaff? With this slideshow, that’s how.
Herewith is a list of all 10 matchups, ranked from most boring to most exciting. Informational capsules, viewing coordinates and a few predictions also are included. NO FILTER, BRO.
This Saturday, UFC on Fox 4 goes down from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main card features four fights: the main event featuring Mauricio Rua facing off against Brandon Vera, the co-main event has Lyoto Machida against Ryan Bader,…
This Saturday, UFC on Fox 4 goes down from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main card features four fights: the main event featuring Mauricio Rua facing off against Brandon Vera, the co-main event has Lyoto Machida against Ryan Bader, followed by a lightweight fight between Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner and welterweights Mike Swick and DaMarques Johnson.
In the main and co-main events, a title shot is on the line, as the fighter who wins “most impressively,” will earn the next shot at the light heavyweight title—and at the winner of the upcoming Jon Jones and Dan Henderson match at UFC 151.
The fight between Lauzon and Varner is sure to be a competitive fight, and will make for a great lightweight matchup.
In this vlog, Dana White takes us behind the scenes of UFC 149 in Calgary, where we get to see Urijah Faber, Renan Barao, Tim Boetsch, Hector Lombard and more backstage. We also see White’s recent birthday party at the Fantasy Factory with Ryan Sheckler and others.
Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on Twitter @TimMcTiernan.
And yet he STILL hasn’t learned that only tools wear Affliction…
We’re just a few days away from UFC on FOX 4, which will be headlined by arguably the most confusing contender fight in modern UFC history. While most fans can kind of justify Shogun earning a title shot with a victory given his track record (especially if Hendo manages to put away Jones at UFC 151), Brandon Vera remains a gigantic question mark. With his most notable victory being a TKO over heavyweight Frank Mir back in 2006, it’s hardly a surprise that most fans and pundits are completely unable to make sense of this bout even headlining the card, yet alone being for a title shot.
If Brandon Vera attempted to justify all of this through his appearance on “Inside MMA,” he ended up just raising even more questions. Case in point: Vera talked about his training camp leading up to his bout with “Shogun” Rua. Aside from bringing back his Muay Thai coaches and sparring with Alexander Gustafsson, Vera commented that he was “doing the things he should have been doing since day one.” Specifically, he’s actually caring now about his career. As he told the “Inside MMA” crew:
And yet he STILL hasn’t learned that only tools wear Affliction…
We’re just a few days away from UFC on FOX 4, which will be headlined by arguably the most confusing contender fight in modern UFC history. While most fans can kind of justify Shogun earning a title shot with a victory given his track record (especially if Hendo manages to put away Jones at UFC 151), Brandon Vera remains a gigantic question mark. With his most notable victory being a TKO over heavyweight Frank Mir back in 2006, it’s hardly a surprise that most fans and pundits are completely unable to make sense of this bout even headlining the card, yet alone being for a title shot.
If Brandon Vera attempted to justify all of this through his appearance on “Inside MMA,” he ended up just raising even more questions. Case in point: Vera talked about his training camp leading up to his bout with “Shogun” Rua. Aside from bringing back his Muay Thai coaches and sparring with Alexander Gustafsson, Vera commented that he was ”doing the things he should have been doing since day one.” Specifically, he’s actually caring now about his career. As he told the “Inside MMA” crew:
“I should have been caring, man. I should’ve understood that I fight in the UFC, where the greatest fighters from around the world congregate to compete for the number one spot. And I didn’t treat it like that for a long time. I didn’t treat it like that at all. So, I understand where I’m at now. I understand.”
Is it just me, or is this a Karo “Too Talented to Train” Parisyan level cop-out? Are we really to believe that “The Truth” was just coasting his way to an 8-5 (1) record against the toughest competition in our sport? Before you answer that, though:
“After a while, I probably stated that people should just lose because my name was Brandon Vera. My name was ‘The Truth.’ You lose because of who I was, not because of what I was doing or putting into the sport. Not what I was putting into the bank, how hard I was training or the hours I was putting in.”
On second thought, THAT is a Karo “Too Talented to Train” Parisyan level cop-out. Seriously, that’d make Tim Sylvia roll his eyes, and he tried to pull the “Do you know who I am?” card after getting his ass kicked by Abe Wagner.
What’s especially confusing about this is that a victory over Brandon Vera hasn’t meant anything in nearly six years. Since 2007, Vera has gone 4-5 (1) and has been saved twice from the chopping block by dropping a weight class and by an opponent’s positive steroid test. For him to have been pulling the “Do you know who I am” schtick the entire time is unbelievably pathetic. We’re talking Scott Hall in Fall River pathetic.
Besides, we’ve heard this hype from him before, and we’ve seen just how badly it ended. To be fair to Vera, that will happen when you’re in the cage with Jon Jones. That will also happen when you’re convinced that “Bones” is “just some young punk.” Via MMAWeekly:
“The very first time I fought Jon Jones, I thought he was just some young punk and I didn’t respect him at all. I got what I deserved. If and when I do get a chance to fight Mr. Jones again, I promise he’ll have my full and undivided attention.”
Oh for God’s sake. You’re in the UFC. Every opponent should have your full and undivided attention. And not that I’m calling Vera a liar, but it’s easier to claim that you didn’t care after a loss than it is to just admit that your opponent was just that much better than you (especially if you’re fighting for a rematch with said opponent). But I digress.
So now that you’ve been told that the unspectacular “Truth” you’ve been watching was simply buying his own hype, do you believe it? Does Vera come out looking better than ever against Rua, or does he get crushed, only to make new excuses? Let us know what you think.
When news broke Monday that the UFC on Fox 4 headliner between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Brandon Vera will determine a No. 1 contender to challenge current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, the MMA world let out a collective groan in frustr…
When news broke Monday that the UFC on Fox 4 headliner between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Brandon Vera will determine a No. 1 contender to challenge current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, the MMA world let out a collective groan in frustration.
UFC President Dana White then amended that news, noting that the winner of Rua-Vera won’t necessarily get the next title fight, but rather whoever wins most impressively between Rua-Vera and the other light heavyweight fight between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, will be the next challenger for Jones.
It’s true that the news makes Saturday night’s fight card significantly more intriguing, however the decision to give Brandon Vera an opportunity to potentially compete for a UFC title still leaves many fans scratching their heads.
Vera is coming off of a win over Eliot Marshall, but he had lost his previous three fights in devastating enough fashion that the UFC opted to cut him from the roster. When it was later revealed that Thiago Silva had submitted a falsified urine sample for his fight with Vera, the loss was later turned into a no-contest…but everyone remembers the beating he took nonetheless.
Prior to that devastating thrashing which gave him a horribly broken nose, Vera was on the receiving end of yet another highlight reel butt-kicking as an elbow from Jon Jones broke his face in three different places.
Needless to say, prior to the uninspiring win over Marshall, who has since been cut by the UFC, Vera had been on a terrible streak of losses which had all but completely eliminated the hype that surrounded him early in his UFC career.
Yet somehow, much to the surprise of just about everyone, Vera was given a fight against former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Worse yet, if Vera somehow wins that fight,could be be the one to challenge Jon Jones for the title next.
It’s true that Jones has completely steamrolled through the UFC’s 205-pound division, so there really aren’t many obvious contenders for the belt.
But Brandon Vera? Really?
This is a guy who, at the current moment, barely cracks most top-25 lists, let alone top-10 lists. There has to be someone else who would make for a more interesting No. 1 contender.
Both of them, and others, would be significantly better opponents for Jon Jones than Brandon Vera.
I mean no disrespect to Brandon Vera as a fighter because he certainly does have the talent to get back to being a top contender, but winning one fight against a guy who is no longer employed by the company, after three straight losses, should not put someone in a championship contenders’ fight.
The decision has been made, though, and the winner of Shogun-Vera or Machida-Bader will get his chance to dethrone Jones.
Come Saturday night, we could be talking about the rematch that no one wants to see—Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones.
Yesterday on the UFC on Fox 4 media call, UFC president Dana White declared that the winner of this Saturday’s headliner between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon “The Truth” Vera would get the next immediate shot at the winner of UFC 151’s light-heavy…
Yesterday on the UFC on Fox 4 media call, UFC president Dana White declared that the winner of this Saturday’s headliner between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon “The Truth” Vera would get the next immediate shot at the winner of UFC 151’s light-heavyweight title tilt between champion Jon “Bones” Jones and challenger Dan Henderson.
Needless to say, MMA fans took to Twitter in expressing their disagreement with the news. Some fans argued that Vera was not the man Rua should have to beat in order to justify a rematch with either Jones—who thoroughly dethroned Rua at UFC 128 last year—or Henderson—who put on the proverbial “Fight of The Millennium” with Rua at UFC 139 last fall. Others stayed vocal in saying that Vera’s less-than-stellar record as of late did not justify a title shot against either Jones or Henderson, the former of whom defeated Vera at the UFC’s debut on Versus (now NBC Sports Network).
In any event, the UFC president changed the station, so to speak, as the UFC brass opted to change the tune in light of the fans’ outcries. To put it in simpler terms, the next contender to the king’s throne will depend on who looks more impressive in victory. If the winner of Shogun vs. Vera is more impressive than the victor in the events co-headliner of Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader, then the winner of Shogun vs. Vera will indeed get the next crack at the gold.
Likewise, if the winner of Machida vs. Bader prevails in more impressive fashion than that of the main event’s victor, then either Machida or Bader will either have their dream fight with Henderson or their rematch with Jones.
However, the fact that it has come to this—that it has come to the point where four victims of the current champion are going to earn a shot at the gold with one win—begs a question that nobody’s had the gall to ask yet:
What about Alexander Gustafsson?
Gustafsson has been on a five-fight win streak, looking no less impressive in his past outings than Rua, Vera, Bader or Machida did in their respective last few outings. Gustafsson has faced no shortage of tough, durable fighters in his path towards his golden dreams, either. Not only that, but Gustafsson also has not delivered any sort of lackluster performance that might deny his argument towards a big fight or a title eliminator—something which many feel Vera has, and something which some may feel Bader did in his unanimous-decision win over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 144.
No word has been given on who will face Gustafsson in that “big fight” that the UFC talked about, but is there any doubt that Gustafsson would make sense as the only real “challenge” left for the champion? Regardless of whether it’s Jones or Henderson that supports all twelve pounds of the gold after UFC 151 next month, if Gustafsson wins that next fight and extends his current streak to 6-0?
We should say not, even though we don’t know who’s next for Gustafsson. After all, the man has earned his moment to dance with the fiercest wolves in the pack at 205 pounds. He deserves the chance to prove as such by facing someone as dangerous as Rua or Machida if at all possible, because in such few words, it’s all that makes sense for him at this point.
Besides that, by lining up an opportunity to challenge for the gold and handing it to the man who looks the most impressive this weekend—whether it’s the winner of the main event or of the co-main event—instead of allowing Gustafsson to earn it through his next fight, the UFC, ingenious as their marketing and PR strategies often are, proves what fans of the sport already know and are already scared to admit:
If or when Henderson loses at UFC 151, anyone other than Gustafsson is either just another mandatory challenger or a mandatory rematch for arguably the most creative and most unstoppable UFC light-heavyweight champion of this generation. Like it or not, the light-heavyweight division has finally been cleared of just about every sensible challenger.
With UFC on FOX 4 just days away, brash Brit Michael “The Count” Bisping took an underhanded swipe at Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for turning down a fight with Zuffa newbie Glover Teixeira—he both commended and criticized his actions in equal measure. Via MMAMania.com, Bisping told FUEL TV’s UFC Tonight: